Running out of article ideas??

[Emailrevealer]

What do you do when you start to run out of ideas?

May articles are starting to seem repetative to me. I'm running out of ideas and angles to make them sound fresh.

[Ryan Even]

Go to Ezine Articles and start looking through other articles on your topic to get ideas...

Just don't STEAL their same articles, just them to get your brain going.

[Premium Web Content]

Indeed, after writing hundreds of articles about a particular niche, you're bound to suffer from a mental burnout. You'd start to feel that you've written everything there is to write about the topic. Whenever you try to start a new article, you'd feel the weight of habit falling on your shoulders. The activity has become a routine, and routine is often the bane of creativity.

If you're no longer excited about what you write, chances are, you won't be able to invite enthusiasm amongst your readers.

The key, I believe, lies in finding new ways to motivate yourself; new "angles," as you call them, to reignite your imagination; and new approaches to provide a new layer of excitement about what you're doing.

Below are some techniques I use to cope up with assignments that may have become repetitive, if not stale.

1. I try to find new statistics that are worth mentioning. Let's say the subject is about infidelity. Studies show that 6 out of 10 married individuals are engaged - or have been engaged - in extramarital affairs. That's pretty shocking to me. And that's enough to excite me into sharing the same info to my readers.

2. I try to find new ways of making old information seem new. Let's say that the 6 out of 10 stuff from the previous number is old information. It would be challenging if we'd try to find a spin for it that will make it appear more dramatic, more alarming, and more moving than it actually is. So, instead of saying "6 out of 10 married people have been unfaithful," we can make the information more personal and closer to home by saying "there is a 60% chance that your spouse will cheat on you!"

3. I try to find weird and obnoxious facts about the subject that will jolt me into attention, and which I hope would jolt my readers into attention as well. For example, some ancient Mayan tribes resorted to female circumcision to reduce the chances of female infidelity. That's repulsive, that's inhumane, and that's just not right! That's interesting too, and it can serve as a stimulus for your imagination.

4. Anchoring an article on a relevant character will likewise give it a more intimate feel, something which may be considered fresh if you've been writing strictly objective pieces for your previous works. You don't have to abandon the third person POV. You just have to describe things in the eyes of your anchor-character. Try writing about infidelity based on how it affects a woman who is left behind to mend the wounds caused by her husband's unfaithfulness. Or perhaps, the article can be based on the trials and tribulations of the party often blamed for an illicit affair - the paramour.

Again, the above ideas help me - personally - to add new spice to old concepts. They may or may not work for you as we are bound by our own styles and our own voices, but I'm pretty sure they're worth a try.

Hope this helped.


- Johnny

[Emailrevealer]

WOW!
Thanks guys thats some great advice. Really great suggestions.

[Mike Bogowski]

Hi Emailrevealer,

Try a Google blog search on some popular keywords in your chosen niche. On top of giving you fresh ideas it will keep you up to date on what people in your niche are discussing.

Hope this helps

[Ryan Dodson]

I had this same problem back when I used to write & submit articles on a daily basis.

My niche was fitness and I always came up with 3 new topics to write about each day. But not long after I reached platinum status at EzineArticles.com, I started to run out of creative ways to make the articles sound fresh.

So I found a keyword research tool, digged up 10 new topics to write on and created 10 new articles for each topic.

I suggest trying something similar to that.

[spressnell]

Lots of great ideas here. Great for a newbie like me.

Shirley P.

[Ronnie Nijmeh]

PLR is definitely a good idea, even if you decide to use it as a "base" and end up revising it to your own "voice".

Another method I use is just talking it out with others. Ask them questions about their needs/wants, or just ask them directly. I ended up coming up with several dozen topics in the matter of a few minutes that way!

Ronnie

[Jeannie Crabtree]

I really like PLR, but at times it can seem like the same material is all over
the internet.

For fresh ideas, that you won't find all over the article directories, I will give you one of my favorites.

I pick up books from the used book stores. If you are developing a site, this gives you plenty of material to mull over and put in your own words for both your site and to publish in article directories.

Jeannie Crabtree

[KipWillington]

Yea I would have to agree with most ppl PLR is the way to go. I have like 900 PLR articles i STILL haven't used and I write 10 articles a day. I wouldn't have a problem selling them to you for dirt cheap just PM me.

[Christie Love]

There's only so much information you are going to find about a particular topic. What you'll need to do is to turn your focus to different topics after you have exhausted all written efforts your original topic.

I would also suggest that you use the various, free keyword search tools, available online,to find new keywords about a particular topic. You'll want to perform extensive keyword searches on all your topics and write an article on each keyword until you have exhausted that topic. Then move on to a new topic.

It helps to write about a topic that you have a deep interest in and know a lot about. For instance, my niche is the dating niche. I have written articles on this topic for well over a year and I have yet to run out of ideas to write about.

I hope this helps.

[abelacts]

Christie is right. Depending on the topic, there's so much you can write about. What you can do is tweak the angle and you'll have a new topic to write.

In addition to what has been said, I always let other people do the work for me :-) Here's how to find new article ideas:

1) Grab a copy of magazine - yep physical magazine. Scan the headlines on the cover and you'll get some ideas what's hot.

2) Goto about.com - you'll find any topic on About.com. Find the most popular articles section.

[jhongren]

Originally Posted by Emailrevealer

What do you do when you start to run out of ideas?

May articles are starting to seem repetative to me. I'm running out of ideas and angles to make them sound fresh.

Hi Emailrevealer,

Personally I feel we will never run out of ideas.

Lets back track and understand what marketing is about.

I feel it is convincing someone to pay for a product or service.

And why would they need to pay?

Is there a need to be fulfilled?

If the customer does not pay and yet you know there is a void, perhaps the product or service does not meet the needs.

So I am sure there is always idea and new ideas evolving.

It is how we go and find them.

As long as there are humans, there will be wants and needs.

And it is up to how we marketers find the right needs and match the products or service to fulfill these needs.

My 2 cents.

Cheers,
John